Livni, Aharonovitch "see eye to eye on the need for more serious steps to be taken" to deal with "price tag" attacks.

The cabinet may discuss classifying “price-tag” attacks as “acts of terror,” so
as to strengthen law enforcement’s ability to deal with the growing number of
such incidents, according to political sources.

The Prime Minister’s
Office could not confirm if the topic would be on the cabinet’s
agenda.

In advance of such a cabinet discussion, Justice Minister Tzipi
Livni, Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch and Attorney-General Yehuda
Weinstein held a meeting on the subject Thursday, along with representatives
from the IDF, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and the State Attorney’s
Office.

In a statement issued by Livni and Aharonovitch’s offices
Thursday night, the ministries said that in regards to price-tag attacks,
Aharonovitch, Livni and Weinstein “see eye to eye on the need for more serious
steps to be taken, including making sure law enforcement have the tools at hand
to deal with the criminals responsible.”

They also said that they “see
with severity the seeping of price-tag attacks into Israel, and the danger
inherent in damaging relations with Arab Israelis.”

Participants at the
meeting discussed harsher steps to deter such incidents, including legally
defining “price-tag” incidents as acts of terror, according to political
sources.

In the past, Weinstein has opposed such a legal definition, but
according to sources, he is weighing shifting that opinion, given that the legal
tools available have not been able to halt the price-tag incidents.

Livni
and Aharonovitch will hold a follow-up meeting on the matter in the near
future.

On Tuesday, following the torching of three cars and the
defacement of a mosque in a Wadi Ara village the night before, Aharonovitch
said, “I view with grave severity any efforts toward incitement or to hurt
people. We won’t stop until we find those responsible,” adding that police will
take steps to increase their ability to prevent future such attacks.

Instead of worrying about graffiti, they should be concerned by the
persistent attacks by Palestinians against Israelis in Judea and Samaria,
including stone-throwing and Molotov cocktails.

The discussion happened,
she said, just one day after a Palestinian threw a Molotov cocktail at a jeep in
Judea and Samaria, wounding four soldiers.

“I have not seen them do
anything against the real terror in Judea and Samaria,” she said.

Already
on Wednesday, MK Esawi Frej (Meretz) called for the government to declare
price-tag attacks as terrorist acts.

Reut Mor – the spokeswoman for Yesh
Din, a group promoting human rights for Palestinians under Israeli control –
said in response to the reports that “during the same week that the state
informed the High Court of its intention to retroactively approve four illegal
outposts built partially on private Palestinian land, the comments by the
justice minister and the public security minister about classifying settler
violence as terrorism seem like hollow statements.”

“This initiative,
which is a repeat of past such initiatives, is out of touch with reality – a
fight against terror is judged by actions not words. It is the obligation of the
state to provide security to the protected population under its control, an
obligation that it fails to uphold again and again,” Mor stated.